I Surrender, a Positive Affirmation

I surrender, not to the circumstances or the opposition, but to my own resistance to peace and happiness. I surrender, not in order to give up on what I love, but in order to receive love in a greater way than I myself could have planned for.

“Life is a balance between what we can control and what we cannot. I am learning to live between effort and surrender.” – Danielle Orner

I Surrender What I Cannot Change

I do my best and hope for what I want, but I do not resist the direction of the wind.

We’re not always going to understand everything; we will probably understand very little in life in comparison to what there is to be understood. That is no reason to lose motivation or hope for living a good and full life.

Surrender isn’t about giving up our dreams, hopes, and motivations–it’s about giving in to what’s trying to come into our lives. It’s about giving up on suffering through it. The problem is not the problem. The problem is how we think about the problem.

If we can continually let go of our need to be right, to know it all first, and to have it all planned out perfectly, we will be free of the chains of the problem.

Life is a balancing act, and we’re in fact co-authoring our life stories. We’re working in unison with the universe, with the seasons of change, with our higher power, with the shifting winds–all to create a beautiful symphony. Sometimes we’re called to push, and sometimes we’re gently reminded to fall back.

We’re not required to give up on our dreams, but we are allowed to adjust our approach toward living the life we think is best for us. To quote a beautiful line from Panache Desai, “This is not a journey of understanding. It is a journey of trust. It is a journey of surrendering every aspect of your soul over to the light.”

There is no perfect way to handle hard days, or to live our lives. Frustrating circumstances do call for love, though, and they call for us to release our resistance to love’s presence in our life. How might we be resisting? Maybe it’s the unwillingness to accept what is or let go of what we know isn’t good for us.

Our first task in recovering from any sense of loss or confusion is to accept ourselves, our situation, and our feelings about it all. Through trial and error, we must practice being patient with learning how to take care of ourselves a little better.

I Surrender What Needs Transforming

I transform a painful experience into a positive, fruitful endeavor.

Just as children grow out of clothing and toys, we too grow out of things as adults — like particular people, jobs, negative stories and attitudes. We can explore our feelings and thoughts around what has changed for us, because what worked last season may not work anymore.

The key is this: If you work on the inside, the outside will fall into place.

You’re not asked to be your own sole transformer; you’re asked only to surrender the thoughts and feelings that need transforming. The rest will be taken care of. This kind of spiritual surrender isn’t about giving up your conditions, but giving up your conditioning. This is growth.

Your willingness to release what you cannot change (outer turmoil) and focus on what you can change (inner peace) is a tremendous show of strength.

To surrender means to stop fighting yourself and to start living from a more peaceful and secure place. This surrendering–of illusions, of resistance, of fear–allows you to have a more profound experience that invites positive transformation, in yourself and around you.

Your transformation happens on the other side of surrender. By surrendering what needs transforming, you’re in a large sense requesting to see yourself and all things differently. In return, you will be sent the miracle of new eyes that you might see a better way.

I Surrender So That I Can Receive

When I release my resistance to love’s presence, I am able to receive what I need — what’s trying to come into my life, for my highest good.

I’m letting go of everything I feverishly collected that wasn’t loving, and it’s a long journey. All the negative stories that brought me down, the self-limiting beliefs that tied be down, and the fearful perceptions that weighed me down – I surrender it all, and I then see how it gets transformed.

I surrender my obsessive attachment to particular people, outcomes, and situations. I focus on how I want to experience this experience rather than clinging to my expectations for how this experience “should” or is “supposed to” be.

To be free, sometimes we must let go of everything that prevents us from fully enjoying and experiencing our highest potential, and our deepest truths.

I know now that I receive far more by surrendering than fighting. For instance:

When I give up trying to understand why, I become comfortable with not knowing.

When I accept what troubles I’ve been given, another door opens for me.

When I let go of outcomes, I get to focus on how I’ll feel no matter what.

When I surrender a frustrating project, I get to just do my best and know it’s going to be okay.

When I release the grip of my failures, pain, successes, and hopes, I discover the grace that comes from trusting that my experiences are all being used to serve the greatest, highest good in some way.

As Marianne Williamson writes in her book A Year Of Miracles: “To the ego mind, surrender means giving up. To the spiritual mind, surrender means giving in and receiving.” We give in and we receive grace, comfort, peace, renewed focus, another way, and the chance to grow. We’re granted a miracle, really.

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Aim Happy intends to inspire and educate. This site does not serve as an alternative to professional advice or attention. I am not a doctor, psychologist, therapist, or nutritionist. Please seek professional care for serious concerns.

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